What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

Great idea!

 

Beautiful car! What are those wheels? I would love them on my car!

 

Sorry to hear all that. Very frustrating especially when there is someone out there that did the damage but did not have the decency to come forward.
I would take her for a ride and try and forget about it.
Maybe than you will once again capture the feeling that led you purchasing the wagon in the first place. Best of luck!

 

replaced the back seat with a new one, changed out the steering universal joint for a vibration reducing joint ,had a new power steering hose made, replaced the steering pump ohh and a 2100 mile road trip

 

Unfortunately, had to sell my 1986 Custom Cruiser yesterday. Looking at a boat to replace it, probably not a wagon for the time being, but it will be a boat! I am an Oldsmobile fan to the end.

 

My update - nothing lately again, but tomorrow I plan on using some info (thanks to Wagonkiller) and see if I can re-route some vacuum lines on my carburetor and see if that helps at all. I have been hoping to get another carb on there to see if that is my problem. If not, I know that I will be able to rule out that problem. I also plan on getting the exhaust loose, though I don't think that is the problem. If not that or the carb/vac lines, then I will kinda think with what my dad keeps saying he thinks the problem is and that is that the cam and/or timing chain was installed incorrectly. If that is the case, there is no way I can go through another engine teardown, so I will be listing it up for trade (for an early 70s GM sedan/wagon or Ford sedan/wagon) on Craigslist probably within a couple of weeks. I prefer to trade, because I am sure I can get nowhere near what I have invested it if I sold for cash, or get laughed at when I said what I have to get for it, lol. No fun having a wagon that you cannot even drive... 7 years is enough delay. lol.

Who would have dreamed that one of the most simple engines could cause me so much trouble. It will be the last big block Chevy I ever own, I will say that. lol.

 

wow you've been struggling with that for a long time now. :confused:

I would suggest you try plugging all the ports on the carb with those little vacuum caps and start from there.
You have a vacuum guage, right?

 

Repaired a P/S pump leak, installed new sway bar bushings and steering rack boots on the 83 Fairmont. The 61 Falcon goes back to the upholstery shop Monday to finish installing the carpet, still some interior parts to paint but it might be done next week. Thinking about putting in some 3" lowering blocks?? would that be too much?

 

lol, yeah, 7 years to be exact. I tried for 6 years to get the old lady to sell me the car and ever since I have regretted ever laying eyes on it. lol.

Yeah, I was thinking just today that I should get some of those plugs and see if that helps, but Wagonkiller gave me some tips on where some of the vac lines should run. It amazes me that there is not a factory vacuum hose diagram available from GM for the 1972 cars. I really need to get a new carb on there that I know is good to see if helps, that will eliminate one possible problem.

I think we may have a vacuum guage here, I will have to see if I can find it.

Thanks!

 

I discovered I had a small oil leak somewhere this morning as I was heading down the Interstate. I noticed a pretty good, though slight smoke cloud behind the wagon, so I pulled off the next exit and checked to ensure I had not blown a seal or the filter. Had a leak that appeared to originate AT the oil filter, so I got a new WIX filter and a quart of oil, and went on home to do some diagnosing...

I got the driver's side front up on a ramp and took a peek. There indeed was oil from the base of the Fram filter, going back to the transmission, and also along the base of the DS exhaust manifold, which was the source of the smoke. Put my hand on the filter and was able to tighten it a half-turn! Sh!t. So, I replaced that damn Fram PH8A POS with the Wix 51515, added a quart of oil, cleaned up what oil I could get to, and road tested. Though there is still some smoke, I believe that is simply remaining oil that had not burned off the exhaust manifold. Hopefully, I got the problem fixed.

The car is running pretty damn good, other than the oil problem today!

 

Friends don't let friends do Fram.

 

I used to use Fram oil filters for many years, until I heard about WIX back in the early '90s. The filters with the NAPA brand name on them are also WIX. After I read a magazine article that showed technical data on several popular oil filters, that also had pictures of the inside of each, I decided that I'd run with WIX. I've never had a Fram completely fail, but I know several people that have had them fail, so I just don't chance it.

Tomorrow, I'm going to take the car for a little 20-mile jaunt, to see if that was indeed the problem.

 

Hello all, well it been a while since I have been on the site so here is what I have been doing to the wagon.
All the suspension has been redone with new poly bushings, new springs all around, all new gas shocks, added a rear sway bar from a 442, all new brake lines and wheel cylinders, drums, calipers, master cylinder, had everything powder coated. Trying to get everything done before the snow flies

 

Howdy all! Worked on both Torino wagons a bit this weekend. Last week I fixed the lighting situation on the red one (pinched wire causing flashing headlights/no taillights/no side markers), so this weekend I finished out the red one's rear bumper/and did some general cleaning. Brown one got a fresh battery, fresh gas, added some front sheetmetal.

 

For the first time since I bought the '77 Estate Wagon, I finally (gingerly!) removed the cover where the spare tire should be.
Nope, nada.
At least the jack was there, but no lug wrench. I never use a lug wrench anyway, I use a 1/2" breaker bar and a socket. If I have a flat, I either use fix a flat or AAA.
But it would be cool to have the OE stuff bolted in there.
The reason I did all this was to replace the anemic rear 4X10 speakers.
Of course, the new ones have a much larger magnet, so a bit of surgery will be in order to make them fit.
In the process, all the plastic clips holding the upper window surrounds broke, but I can deal with that.
Making the spare tire cover look new again after three decades of the Florida sun will be a project all its own, but I did it on my '85 Country Squire, so I can fix this one too.
Plastic interior part repair/refurbish isn't nearly as fun as building an engine, but the finished results are there to see.
I've got a whole lot of plastic to repair....:banana: